Tyresta National Park is about 20 kilometres from central Stockholm. Its forests contain old pines, spruce forest, rocky outcrops and small lakes set between higher ground. The park’s old-growth forest gives the area a wilderness feel despite its proximity to the city.

The smooth rock surfaces were shaped by the ice sheet and by waves, when the nearby archipelago reached this far inland. Mosses and lichens grow beneath tall spruce, while bog myrtle and gale grow in the forest. Trees at different stages, from young growth to old trunks with holes and large, long-established pines, provide homes for many species.

Visitors can follow trails from Tyresta village or Stensjödal to reach the old-growth forest. Lakes and viewpoints offer places to look across the woods. Tyresta contains the largest area of old-growth forest south of the Dalälven river, and the park’s website says such forests are increasingly rare. The national park opened in 1993.